Childhood is when a lot of moles (nevi) first appear, and parents are understandably unsure of what is normal. There are many different types of moles. A set of rules to assess moles for melanoma risk in adults and older children is the “ABCDE” rule. Not every mole that... Read more

Far too often, when I unpack my kids’ lunch bags after school, I find most of their lunch still in the bag. I ask why… “They needed us out of the classrooms, so we didn’t have time to eat better.” Consistent answers from both boys. Other moms relate a... Read more

Hands up if you have a picky eater at home. I’m going to tell you something that I hope helps you feel better about this. Picky eating can be a completely typical part of child development. In fact, most young children are picky about food at some point or... Read more

Many parents are probably thinking about their pre-kindergarten kids starting school in the fall. This can be a tricky road to navigate emotionally. On the one hand, it’s exciting to think about this next new step for your child and all the opportunities and adventures that come with starting school.... Read more

We all use pictures or visuals throughout the day to give us more information about what is happening in our environment. We watch our friends and families facial expressions to give us information about feelings, we look outside to see what the weather is like, we look at our... Read more

This is something I have been grappling with for a while now. I have known that it was a move I wanted to make but, for some reason, I just took a while to make it. I finally took action 10 days ago and hope to never look back. My kids... Read more

You walk into your child’s classroom to meet with their teacher and are already feeling rushed because you had to race from work to attend this meeting. Your thoughts are scattered but you still manage to have a brief, courteous chat with your child’s teacher. She tells you that... Read more

Baby oral care should start as early as possible. Babies love routine… so why not take advantage. Choose a time of the day that suits you best, whether its first thing in the morning, or during baby’s bath time. I personally have found right before bath time to be... Read more

We’ve got a sleeper! YAHOO. Sleep is so underrated. For the first time in over 5 months, I slept a full 8 hours last night and I feel like a human being again. Sleep training works. It takes time and it’s not necessarily easy (though what part of parenting... Read more

Sleep training Days 1-3 When my oldest daughter, Portia, was about 5 or 6 months old, nobody in our house was getting much sleep and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. She would *sometimes* sleep 6 hours in a row, but often she only slept 3-4 hours... Read more

Nice to meet you! I'm Jessica a.k.a North Shore Mama. This site was born out of my love for my daughters and the desire to share my motherhood journey with fellow moms. I believe we're all in this craziness called 'parenthood' together and North Shore Mama is my way of reaching out to anyone who needs a laugh, a cry or dinner inspiration. Thank you so much for reading!

Do you know what’s scary as a blogger? Trying out a new ‘look’ on your Instagram feed. As in- a new filter. . I’m thinking of going a little softer compared to what I’m used to. What do you think of this potential new look? @thefamjewels#reallifestyledca#RLSstyle

A few months ago, I started responding to the question ‘how are you?’ with the answer ‘good... life is FULL’. The typical response most of us default to is BUSY, am I right?! Hey, how are you? “BUSY, busy but good.” I heard myself repeat that a few times in one day and decided I needed a new answer. We’re ALL busy. We ALL KNOW we’re all busy- that doesn’t need to be confirmed ... I suddenly thought to myself. So now, ask me how things are going and you’ll hear me reply with ‘life is full’. In all the

Today’s mood: . In other news, it was snowing when we woke up and the day ended in bright sunshine. Oh, Vancouver- always keeping us on our toes.